Quality Control Is the Contractor's Own Checking
Quality control, often shortened to QC, refers to the checks the party performing the work carries out to make sure the work conforms to the requirements. On most projects that is the general contractor and its subcontractors. Quality control is distinct from quality assurance, which is oversight by others, such as the owner or its representatives. Both matter, but under most contracts the contractor remains responsible for the conformance of its own work regardless of what others inspect.
A Typical Quality Control Workflow
- Document reviewDrawings, specifications and approved submittals are reviewed before the work starts, and conflicts are raised through RFIs.
- Pre-installation checkSubstrate, materials and conditions are verified before installation begins.
- In-progress inspectionThe first installations are checked to confirm the method before the work is repeated.
- Hold point inspectionWork is inspected before it is covered by the next layer or trade.
- Deficiency recordingNonconforming work is logged with location, description and responsible party.
- Correction and verificationDeficiencies are corrected and reinspected before the log entry is closed.
- Completion inspectionPunch list and close-out inspection before turnover.
Where Quality Control Requirements Come From
Some contracts require a formal quality control plan with defined inspections, forms and staffing. Others simply require the work to conform to the documents. Owner standards, specifications and manufacturer instructions can add specific checks, such as moisture testing before flooring or inspection of blocking before drywall. Recognized contractor practice includes checking work before it is covered even where the contract is silent. Paul identifies which of these applied before evaluating what was done.
Common Quality Control Failures
- No inspection at hold points, so deficient work was covered before anyone looked at it
- First installations not checked, allowing a wrong method to be repeated throughout
- Products installed without verifying they matched approved submittals
- Deficiencies observed but not recorded, or recorded but never closed
- Corrections made to the visible symptom rather than the cause
- Quality staff assigned on paper but not present when the work was done
Evaluating Quality Control From the Record
Paul reviews quality control plans, inspection checklists, daily reports, photographs, deficiency logs and correspondence to reconstruct what checking took place, then compares it with the work in the field. A pattern of repeated deficiencies in the same work is often the clearest sign that quality control was not functioning. See quality control documentation and corrective action and reinspection.